Integral RPR from Witt Machine

This article originally appeared in RECOIL Issue 40

No, you haven’t traveled through a time machine where John Arthur Ceiner cans are actually decent. Thankfully, there’s been no more of that in recent years. Nor have you come across some sort of April Fools’ joke, where we are reviewing and advocating something from the same realm. Mitch WerBell? Oh hell no, our major throwback issue was the last one, not this one.

The integral RPR from Witt Machine only looks goofy if you don’t have any reference point. Namely, it only looks a bit dickerty, because it’s sleeved from the muzzle all the way down to just forward of the chamber.

Inside the guts, there’s a different story to be told. While usually we’d want an integral gun to be shorter than a barrel/silencer combination, since the RPR is built for long range, shortening the barrel would effectively shorten capabilities. And since this one happens to be in 308 Winchester, we want all the capability we can get.

DESIGN

Witt Machine starts with a basic 20-inch RPR barrel, then a 10-inch two-piece monocore is threaded on (the first section being a brake-style and the second being more of a traditional monocore).

The monocore starts with a brake pattern before decisively moving to a more traditional design.

The exterior of the barrel is threaded near the base to accept the rear sleeve retainer. Then just below the 1.75-inch diameter sleeve rotates onto the whole shebang. Six hex screws are used to secure the end of the sleeve to the monocore, also giving the added benefit of adding some rigidity to the barrel itself. The Master of Arms Enyo, featured in Issue 33 used a similar method to increase rigidity.

Still, at just over 48 inches long with the stock unfolded we aren’t talking about a tiny titan.

With its folding stock, the Witt Integral RPR is no longer than a 16-inch rifle with a can and collapsed stock.

… WELL WHY BOTHER?

The Witt Machine Integral RPR isn’t smaller than a regular RPR with a silencer, but with the folding stock it’s even smaller than our 16-inch barreled Grey Ghost Precision rifle and Crux ARK NEO silencer — and that’s a rather compact getup.

And there’s one huge benefit to that John Holmes sleeve: an absolute ton of gas expansion can take place aiding in how quiet this bolt gun
really is.

SOUND

Unless you’re shooting subsonic 308 Win (if you want that — buy 300 BLK) there’s always going to be the crack of the projectile as it breaks the sound barrier. So far we’ve heard dubious reports of decibel ratings, and lacking the Brüel & Kjær pulse system and microphone which costs roughly $35,000 we just have to go with our qualitative perceptions. No, your Radio Shack or Amazon decibel meter isn’t suitable for
the task.

With its folding stock, the Witt Integral RPR is no longer than a 16-inch rifle with a can and collapsed stock.

Since the RPR is a bolt action, there’s absolutely no ejection port noise, and since the end of the barrel is roughly 40 inches from your ears? Yes. Yes, it’s very quiet. We’ll take a stab in the dark and say somewhere in the 130s — either way, very comfortable to shoot outdoors without ear pro.

KITTING IT OUT

We equipped the Witt Machine RPR with an Atlas BT46-LW17 PSR 6-9-inch bipod and topped it off with the exceptional Bushnell XRSII 4.5-30 scope in a ZRODelta DLOC-M4 34mm mount. While a 30-power might be more magnification than a 308 Win requires, we’d much rather have too much magnification on the high end rather than the reverse. The addition of a Lead Faucet Tactical Brokos brace made it much easier to toss around on both the range and in the bush.

For ammunition we decided on Hornady’s 308 Win 168 grain ELD Match — a known performer.

AT THE RANGE

Transporting the Witt Machine RPR wasn’t too much of a burden thanks to the folding stock. It easily fit into a Pelican iM3200 Storm case with some room to spare, and we even managed to squeeze one into the much smaller Grey Ghost Gear Rifle Case — though it was akin to stuffing Mama June into size small yoga pants. Accuracy was directly on par with what you’d expect from an RPR; we managed to squeeze a 0.8-inch 10-shot group out of it at 100 yards, but we know that this rifle is more capable than we are.

You have to use a handguard with a large enough inner diameter to accommodate the suppressor.

Targets out to 900 yards were easy to smack, and our main limitation was the caliber itself rather than the platform or silencer. We had little issue with spotting our own shots like shooters have to in PRS and other long-range matches.

BITCHES & QUIRKS

Though the RPR can accept any standard AR-15 handguard, there are some limitations when it comes to this particular rifle. First and foremost, not every handguard has a sufficient inner diameter to accommodate the Witt Machine integral barrel. Additionally, many AR handguards have a goofy gap when mounted on the RPR just by the nature of how it attaches.

Our model features a Seekins Precision MCSR V2 Rail System equipped with M-LOK attachments. We’ve also seen Witt Machine integrals sporting PHNX HexGuard handguards from VDC Armory. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this particular Seekins handguard used with an integral; you may recall the Gemtech Integra featured in Issue 35 used the very same rail, and likely for the same reasons.

But don’t just think you can simply attach any M-LOK accessory willy-nilly. Just like the aforementioned Gemtech Integra, the screws have to be shortened to prevent damaging the outer sleeve of the silencer. A couple minutes with a hacksaw and file and we were in business, but it’s definitely something you have to keep in mind. Regardless, you’re absolutely going to want to plan your accessory positioning beforehand. We found it far easier to just completely remove the handguard to install parts à la 2008 with a Troy rail.

Our main complaint wasn’t really the noise, accuracy, or length (once we got some perspective, at least), but about the caliber itself. However, fear not, Witt Machine produces these bad bears in many calibers — we just lost at the roulette wheel and ended up with a 308 Win.

LOOSE ROUNDS

While the Witt Machine Integral RPR isn’t much smaller than a standard rifle and suppressor, it certainly is much quieter than your average fare. This same performance with a 2006 M4-2000 on a rifle you will not get. While we can’t comment on free-bore boost, it certainly doesn’t apply with a silencer that’s totally integral. As with every other integral, this isn’t a first NFA purchase for basically everyone, but if you’re a dedicated long-range shooter, this one has a place.

There are some quirks, such as having to slightly reduce the length of the M-LOK screws lest you molest the outer tube, but these are easily overcome with a little bit of common sense.

As stated before, if the RPR didn’t have a folding stock, this one would be a no-go. But as it stands? Buy with confidence. You’re welcome.

Visit https://www.wittmachine.net/

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